Walk in love, even as Christ also loved you, and gave himself up for us………..

Ephesians 5:1-2a

In Genesis, we read that the Lord God told Adam, “because you have listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, Do not eat from it: the ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. It will produce thorns for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

Now many will say, after reading this passage, God is mean, unjust, and just cruel. If He is so nice, you would think He would have told Adam, this is only your first mistake, I will give you another chance.

But God is just, and if you are just, you have to do the right and just thing, the law demands it. If you did not, then you are not just.

The Lord God, who created Adam told Adam up front, before hand, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. For on the day you eat from it, you shall certainly die.” What did the Lord God actually say to Adam, “All these trees, here in the garden, you can freely eat from; all of them. But there is one that will cause you to die, don’t eat from that tree. I have given you life, but this fruit, that offers the knowledge of good and evil (Law), causes death.”

Before Adam gained the knowledge of the law. In God’s holiness, God only had to share His grace with Adam, not His justice. Paul clearly gives us the reason the Lord God told Adam not to eat from that tree. The law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression. Romans 4:15

What we also neglect to read, and understand, is the Lord God firstly told the serpent (Satan), “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than any livestock and more than any wild animal. You will move on your belly and eat dust all the days of your life. I will put hostility(enmity) between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. (just a note: the woman does not have seed, the man does. The Lord God was letting us know right from the beginning that a miraculous (virgin) birth would occur).He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel. ”God was telling Satan that a man, born of a woman, will someday deliver a mortal blow to Satan. In this same verse, the Lord God is telling everyone, that Yeshua the Messiah (the Christ), Jesus Christ, will someday come and defeat Satan, along with the sin that Adam just committed, and death because of the knowledge of good and evil. In Christ, the Lord God would once again, in grace, meet, walk, and talk with His creation

I have been a Christian now for 38 years. I put my faith in Jesus Christ when I was 34 years old. Over these last 38 years, I have heard a certain theme about God. He is mean, demanding, unjust, angry, kills people, often good people, and even lets children starve. Many who think this, who believe this, I have found never studied, much less read, the only Book that actually reveals who God is.

There are some who claim they have read the Bible, but also say it was for the purpose of finding errors in it. And there are others who have started out with that same purpose, and have come to believe the Bible is the perfect, inerrant Word of God. There are others who believe, but do not read the Bible. Often I have found that it is because they are just not readers. However they believe and are often eager to hear and know more about the Bible. Then there are others who were told about the wonderful love that God has for them. And because of His love, He sent his Son, to pay for the sin Adam did, and all the sins they have done. They believed what they heard, and then began reading about it, in the Bible.

Of course there our also those that I have met, that do not believe there is such a thing as sin, or say they have never sinned. To these people I only remind them of what the Apostle John wrote. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1John 1:8.With that said, I cannot stop there, but must tell you the next thing John said. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1John 1:9

One does not have to read the Bible to be saved, it is Jesus Christ who saves. Yet by reading about this love that God shows to His creation, in Christ; gives the believing reader the opportunity, and ability to grow in that faith.

If one reads the Bible, one would find out that it is the devil that had the power of death.Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself (Christ) in like manner partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is the devil. And might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Hebrews 2:14-15.

It is Satan that hates what the Lord God created and has always wanted the human race dead. It is Adams original sin that caused a curse on the earth. It is because of that sin, we see disease, sickness, hate, and everything that lends itself to the destruction of human life. The good news is, Christ took the power of death from the devil, and offers life, health, and His love to all.

Now as for God being mean, demanding, unjust, angry, kills people, often good people, and even lets children starve. To those accusations, I say the law is demanding, we are unjust, and usually angry. People kill people, and it is people who cause children to starve.

God causes the crops to grow every year in most places around the world. The world grows more food for every man, woman, and child than we can eat. The world produces enough food to feed everyone. (www.worldhunger.org) The principle problem is that many people in the world still do not have sufficient income to purchase (or land to grow) enough food.(www.worldhunger.org)

Yet,the United States alone sends thousands and thousands of tons offree foodto starving nations every year, yet the children continue starve. Those who receive and hand out that food though, seem never to starve. The leaders of those poor starving countries, never look like they are starving. Why is that? Have you ever asked yourself that question.

Let me finish with this; why do so many hate God and will not read the Bible? Well the Bible gives us the answer. For when they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God, nor were thankful, but became vain in there imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, and to birds and four footed beasts and creeping things. Romans 1

This same Bible tells us also how much God loves us, and His whole creation. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Good morning all, I have not written on this blog now for over a year. So I thought I would bring all of you up to date on my walk with SLL/CLL. And for those who were wondering; yes I am still alive, and doing very well.

I have included an updated chart along with a short version of my last five years. You will see that my 100 Leukocytes has fallen below normal now for three blood tests. What does that mean? It means that it may take longer to beat a cold or infection, if one should occur. Hoping to see them rise when I have blood tests again in March 2016.

As I look back on that day, December 25, 2010, when I was first told I had cancer, I was certainly caught off guard. then just a couple of months later I came to realize that it is not just cancer, but a terminal disease. It was march 2011 when the doctor finally told me I had Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma/Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, (SLL/CLL) stage 4, and there was no cure.

Soon after, I found out that I had the dreaded chromoseome 17p deletion and it was 92% deleted.

Life expectancy, at that time, for those with the17p deletion was that 50% of patients died by nine months after diagnosis, and the rest of them usually died within thirty months. Now in 2015, several new therapies have been approved for SLL/CLL and even 17p patients have much more hope now, to live well past previous life expectancy estimates, of previous years.

I found out, and was later told that chemotherapy was not viable for 17p deletion patients.

In June of 2012, my nose was bleeding, often for more than an hour at a time. My spleen was twice the size it should be. Lymphnodes in my neck and jaw were the size of large marbles and I was short of breath. At my June 2012 appointment, my doctor finally said, “nothing could be done”, that mabybe I should try to get into a clinical trail. On our way back home from the VA in St. Petersburg, my wife and I stopped at the VA cemetery in Sarasota, and got all the information needed for my wife to have me buried there.

The next day I called NIH in Maryland, and after talking to someone, the head doctor called me and said I would be perfect for the trial he was conducting. It took about a month to get all my tests prepared to be sent. However a few days before I received the papers, I was called by the head doctor up there, telling me the trial had been filled. It was now near the end of July 2012.

Feeling sick right at that moment, about one minute later, a verse came to my mind….” And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28. Honestly, all fear left me at that moment. Also one of my favorite verses in the Bible is Isaiah 26:3 Thou will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. The word peace here in Hebrew is Shalom which means, everything is well.

About one week later, I was watching, on television, a Christian Creationist preacher mention Genesis 1:29. God also said, Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you. After reading the verse, he said that bitter apricot seeds kills cancer cells.

Believing God, that every seed bearing plant whose fruit contains seed is for eating, I started eating bitter apricot seeds. I was given this verse when my blood counts were near their worse. Cancer count in my blood was at 70%. WBC 12.4, (high 18.5) HGB 11.4,(low 10.3) PLT 59,(low 53) ALC 8.7,(high 13.5)

It is now Sept 2013 and my blood counts had become close to normal again.So my doctor looked at the lymph node biopsy, that was done in March 2011 and yes, the lymph node was positive for SLL/CLL. Okay we concluded, I did and still do have SLL/CLL, but why the consistently improving blood counts. It was then that I told her what I had been eating.

Since that time, my doctor has told me I am at stage 0, which was stage 4 when first diagnosed. My blood counts are now normal or near normal.

Has this been a miracle in my life, who knows, but for me, it certainly is. When I think of what has happened over the last five years, I thank my Father, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for calling me, to believe Him.

The night I was told I have cancer, my wife unknown to me, sat in the hall of that hospital, next to my room and prayed that our Father in heaven would do for me what he had done for King Hezekiah in 2nd Kings 20. Give him fifteen more years. And as King Hezekiah left his sick bed in three days, so it was with me. There is so much more I could tell you, but it would take far to long. There is much more detail in my previous blogs, for those who may be interested.

I do want to finish with this, I do not have faith in bitter apricot seeds, but I do in the One who healed all who were sick, the one who cleansed the leper, and made the blind to see. You see the grace of God is not a subject, just to discuss, the grace of God, unmerited favor, is a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. The Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. It is one thing to give, you can give at a distance, its another thing to come, personally.

For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. When I put my faith, when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, our position, moves from being condemned by our sin, to a place of righteousness, and no condemnation. That is, not my righteousness, for I have none in myself, but Christ’s righteousness.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21.

He Himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, so that having died to sins, we should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes I am healed. I Peter 2:24.

I hope all of you SLL/CLL and CLL patients are doing well. Lot of great news in the advancements of new medicines. Iburtnib has been giving good results, and has been approved for sale in the USA. It had been approved originally, for only chromosome 17p patients, but I believe it now approved for all chromosome deletions. Please correct if I am wrong on the approval for all patients. Also I have been reading that a Phase 1 trial of second generation BTL inhibitor, ACP-196, and has been demonstrating some very good results.

DATE

WBC

HGB

PLT

ALC

Lymphocytes/

12/26/10

15.6

12.8

87

4.3

100 Leukocytes

01/10/11

15.8

13.3

112

4.3

27.00%

01/19/11

11.7

13.1

78

4.2

36.00%

02/17/11

12.5

13.7

87

4.5

36.00%

05/12/11

11.6

11.9

77

5.5

47.00%

08/08/11

13.3

12.4

85

7.63

09/08/11

18.5

12.9

63

13.5

10/20/11

15.7

12.1

60

8.6

55.00%

12/21/11

13.4

11.9

64

7.85

58.00%

01/06/12

12.5

11.7

63

62.00%

01/26/12

11.1

11.1

62

8.4

04/26/12

11

11.4

54

7.4

67.00%

05/25/12

11.7

11.1

53

8.1

69.00%

06/22/12

12.4

11.4

59

8.7

70.00%

Started eating

08/19/12

9.7

10.7

63

5.9

Bitter

12/03/12

9.1

11.1

73

5.1

55.00%

Apricot Seeds

03/04/13

6.1

10.3

63

2.94

48.10%

06/02/12

06/03/13

6.6

11

72

2.6

44.20%

08/08/13

6.4

11.1

101

1.89

29.70%

09/05/13

5.8

11.9

88

1.59

27.40%

12/05/13

5.5

12.7

88

1.29

23.70%

03/05/14

5.8

12.8

80

1.21

20.70%

08/14/14

3.9

12.8

85

0.89

22.60%

09/05/14

6.8

12.7

80

0.92

14.50%

Normal WBC

Normal HGB

Normal PLT

Normal ALC

Normal Ly

4.0-10.6

12.8-17.0

150

1.0-3.7

16.2% to 48.2%

As you can see from my last results, my blood readings are staying fairly close to normal, with the exception of course, my platelets. My lymph-nodes went back to normal well over a year ago, and are still that way. My spleen is just a bit enlarged over normal, but undetected to the touch.

I have cut back from eating 18 bitter apricot seeds, to 15 a day. I would like to see my ALC numbers get back into the normal range. Even though they are low, I see that my white blood cell count is in the normal range, and I am thankful that I have no infections, nor illnesses, like any of the current bugs, that are going around. With all of the illnesses around me, I think of Psalms 91:1-4 (AMP). He who dwells in the secret place of the most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty (Whose power no foe can withstand). I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him I lean and rely, and in Him I (confidently) trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the deadly pestilence.

All in all, I am feeling fantastic. I will be seeing my Oncologist in March, I am looking forward to seeing what my blood counts will be.

Peter said, “Repent and be baptized …………” If you were like me, you were told that this meant that you first change the way you do things, then you get baptised for the remission of sins. However the Greek word used for repent is matanoeo, which means to change one’s mind, or to think differently. It has nothing to do with changing things, but thinking differently (or changing your way of thinking.)

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave He ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons wh need no repentance. Luke 15

Wait one minute, where and when did this lost sheep repent? In this whole story, I read no where that this lost sheep repented. This lost sheep did not change direction and try to come home. This lost sheep did not say it was sorry for going astray. This lost sheep did nothing but let his Shepard put him on his shoulders. It was the Shepard who rejoiced. It was the Shepard who carried the lost sheep home. It was the Shepard who calls all his friends and neighbors together asking them to rejoice with him, because he had found his lost sheep.

All this lost sheep did, was to rely on his Shepard to do everything.

So what is repentance? Relying on the Good Shepard, Jesus Christ to do everything. It is changing our minds from what we must do to be saved, to what Christ has done to save us.

February is almost over, time does not stand still for anyone. This month has been a very joyous one for my wife and me. We had visiting with us one of our daughters, her husband and their three children, our grandchildren.

We spend several days at the Magic Kingdom, and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect, not to hot, with low humidity. We could not have asked for better weather, or better times. We were able to go on all the rides, and see all the other sites we wanted to see. We stayed there until 1:00 am and all of us had a great time. I have been a blessed man.

I have been feeling really good, just like I felt several years ago. I am finding that I do not lose my breath as quickly as before, I have not bruised for quite some time now, and I have no pain at all. My lympnodes have gone down a bit, and I have no pain in my spleen, even though the sonogram showed it was at 20 cm. I have not changed anything I had been doing, but something seems to have changed. My numbers had been falling rapidly for several months, and just when I thought I would have to start chemo, my numbers leveled out. My doctor, who was preparing me for FCR in January 2012, said lets stay on w&w.

I do not like to go to the doctor’s office, and I have not changed on that. However, I am looking forward to seeing my Oncologist in April, really believing that maybe my blood counts may be somewhat better than before. I have no way of telling, but feeling the way I do, I am hoping for the best. I know that with what I have, everything points that this may not be the case, but hope is a wonderful thing. It is one of those things that God makes available to us.

Romans 5:1-5 – Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Again I want to thank all of you who have been praying for me. I am so grateful that many of you think of me often.

Hezekiah’s Life Extended 2 Kings 20:1-6

In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.’”

Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord. 6 And I will add to your days fifteen years.

In the following verses, Hezekiah asks for a sign, and is granted one. My wife did not ask for a sign, but I did get up and leave the hospital on the third day, after being told I would have to start chemotherapy immediately. It has been over a year now, and I am still on watch and wait, and in my fourth year of having SLL/CLL with a 17p deletion.

My wife found these verses the night I was told I had cancer, late stage cancer, and she has held fast to these verses, living with fear some days, but not doubting that Gods promise to Hezekiah is also a promise to me. She has been an anchor, for me, in a very serious storm.

Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much.

Here’s to another wonderful day, in this beautiful creation, that God made.

It is now February 8th, 2012 and I am finally writing this blog, while sitting on my couch, in the living room. I have hooked up my notebook to my 42″ television, and bought a wireless mouse and keyboard. Now I can view the internet with the click of a button. Not to bad for a 68-year-old with CLL.

When I think of the first phone I ever talked on, a large brown box, where you lifted the phone to your ear, and spoke into the box that was connected to the wall. I remember that we had to listen for the amount of rings. There were so many other people on the same line, you didn’t want to pick up if it was for them.

The first color television, I saw, well I thought it was color, was when I looked into a store window that had color plastic on the window. The television was actually black and white, but looking through the colored plastic, I thought it was color.

But something we had then, that is not around so much today. The big V-8 engine. I had a Mercury Comet 289 V8, and it was fast, with blue racing strips down both sides. We didn’t worry much about gas consumption back then, as gasoline was $.21 a gallon. Later on I bought a Mercury Montego Super Sport, Cleveland 351 V8 engine with two air intakes on the hood. What a car, all leather interior, with power windows, and fast. Sad to say, but now that I am a bit older, I drive a four cylinder, square looking, gray car. But lets not forget, I still have my 1500 cc cruiser motorcycle. Oh well, I certainly enjoyed the times I had, and am very thankful for them.

I am having a Bible study tonight, so I have to do some finishing touches on my Powerpoint presentation. So for now, I will stop rambling on, and get on with things I have to do today.

Galations 3:19a -What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made;

Galations 3:24- 25 – Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian and teacher to lead us until Christ came. So now , through faith in Christ, we are made right with God. But now that faith in Christ has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian.

I just got my motorcycle back from the shop. Wow, repairs are not cheap, but I have it back and am thankful for that. Just riding from the shop to my place was a pleasure. I really feel good when I am riding, I think it may be good therapy for me.

I read this today at the Lymphoma/Leukemia Society site – White Plains, NY – January 7, 2011 – Georgia Cleland, now 28, is the little girl who helped spawn an entire running for charity movement – the largest of its kind in the world. A leukemia patient at age 2, when the chance of survival was just 55 percent, today she ran her first half-marathon with Team In Training, the organization her father founded in her honor 23 years ago. She ran the Walt Disney World half-marathon. Thanks to her father Bruce Cleland’s imagination, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training has had a remarkable influence on the world of marathon running and on blood cancer research.

Twenty-three years ago, Bruce Cleland took the first step as the first marathoner-for-a-cause, as his daughter fought to survive leukemia. His idea – to support leukemia research by raising money and running his first marathon with a team of friends — inspired a running movement that has touched many, many people. 540,000 runners have now followed in his footsteps and raised $1.2 billion dollars to fund cancer research through The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Again I must say that I am so thankful to all of those who take time out of their busy lives, to help raise money for people they may not ever know.

To date, science offers no real definition for life, but from our human experience, nothing defines life better than death. Life is always a gift from one being to another, like an eternal flame that is passed along from one generation to the next. The six billion people we see in the world today bear the flame that God first kindled in Adam and Eve some 6,000 years ago.

It all arises from that single cell which involves two gametes (namely sperm and an egg) coming together and forming a single fertilized egg. The wonder of this new life is even more staggering when we perceive that a “Hannah” or a “Bobby,” may be a future singer or plumber or president that arise from that single cell.

In an adult, when any one of these trillions of cells turns rogue, the self-destruct button in that cell is frantically triggered (the programmed cell death response that is present in all cells). When the self-destruct machinery fails, just one rogue cell can—as a spreading cancer—threaten the life of the whole organism.

Just as cell life and cell death are important for maintaining the life of an organism, so the Bible tells us “that all things [yes, trials as well as joys] work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Just as an organism has life beyond the death of a single cell, so the life of the soul continues beyond bodily death. And just as the decision each cell makes to live or die decides the fate of the organism, the choice that we make in accepting or rejecting Christ determines our eternal life or death.

This morning I would like to thank all of you who read my blog. I appreciate you taking time out of your busy lives to share a moment with me. I do enjoy writing down my thoughts, joys, fears, hopes, and faith for you to read. It helps me greatly, knowing that others have an interest in what I write.

My posting today, is directed more to those who are battling the same cancer I am, so it may not be of interest to everyone who may read my blog. However I hope that it will make you aware of what some go through to be able to live a quality life. Many of us go to get our blood drawn every month, and if fortunate, every three months. For me, I really don’t like going to the third floor of the hospital after my blood is drawn. The third floor is where I come face to face with my lymphoma/leukemia cancer. While I am waiting to see my Oncologist, I look in the room I am facing, and see many sitting in chairs, reading, listening to music, or news on their iPhones, all of them have a needle stuck in their arms, receiving chemotherapy. For the fortunate, they will leave feeling okay, but most, will be weak, tired, and unsure of their future. I have not experienced any of that yet, as I have been trying to postpone any chemotherapy that I may have to have. I know it is coming, but I do not welcome that day. I know of it benefits, but am sad that I or anyone else has to have it.

Many ask, and have asked me, why. Why is there so much sickness, pain, sadness, disease, happening. Why couldn’t God just make everything right. My answer has been, He has, look at Jesus Christ and you will know that. Of course I explain my answer in more detail, but for now, it is suffice to just say Jesus Christ. I have come to learn that believing in Jesus is having faith. I have also found out that evidence (knowledge) points to Jesus, which always increases my faith. Knowledge is true justified belief, and belief must be true in order for it to be considered genuine knowledge. However just because a belief may be true, it does not mean that a person really has knowledge of it. My neighbor said that she just knows it will be beautiful next Sunday. Does she really know this? No, she may believe it, but there is no guarantee that her belief is true. What if it turns out that it is sunny next Sunday, and she says, I knew it would be sunny today. Did she really know, I don’t think so, so even though her belief turned out to be true. She had no knowledge of the future, therefore no good reason for her belief. Unfortunately many today, say they believe in something or someone, without real knowledge of their belief. Even the non-believer believes in not believing, and is also required to exhibit knowledge for that belief. I believe in Jesus Christ because I have a reason for my belief, which is based on genuine knowledge, which in turn increases my faith.

I am posting information for a new trail that may begin soon. This new trial is for anyone who has exhausted all other treatments for SLL/CLL, as well as those who have not had treatment yet. I have posted only a short description of the trial, however if you are looking for a trial, or if you know someone who is looking to go into a trail, please let them know about this new trial. You can find this at http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01500733?term=cll+nih+pci-32765&rank=1 It is not yet open for recruitment, but may open this year (2012).

I am not at that point yet, so my doctor says, but I do ask him about the trials I learn about. At some point he may say yes, and refer me into a trail, but not until it is required.

PCI-32765 for Special Cases of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia or Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma

This study is not yet open for participant recruitment.

Verified on October 2011 by National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (CC)

First Received on December 22, 2011. Last Updated on December 29, 2011

Background: Chronic lymphocytic leukemia and small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) are types of blood or lymph node cancers that mostly affect the elderly. CLL/SLL both create abnormal white blood cells that hurt the immune system and make it more difficult to fight infections. These cancers are usually diagnosed after age 50; more than half of the people with CLL/SLL are over age 70. Elderly people often do not respond well to standard chemotherapy for CLL/SLL. They may have other health problems that make chemotherapy difficult. In addition, individuals who have a genetic abnormality called 17p deletion also do not respond well to standard treatments for CLL/SLL. Researchers want to test a new cancer treatment drug, PCI-32765, to see if it can treat CLL/SLL in these hard-to-treat groups.

Objectives: To see if PCI-32765 is a safe and effective treatment for CLL/SLL in older people and people with 17p deletion.

Eligibility: Individuals over 65 years of age who have CLL/SLL. Individuals at least 18 years of age who have CLL/SLL and 17p deletion.

Design: Participants will be screened with a medical history, physical exam, and imaging studies. Blood and urine samples will be taken. Optional bone marrow and lymph node biopsies may also be taken.

Participants will take PCI-32765 capsules every day for 28 days (one cycle of treatment). Treatment will be monitored with frequent blood tests and clinic visits.

PCI-32765 will be given for six cycles of treatment. Those who benefit from the drug will continue to take it as long as there are no side effects and the disease does not progress. Those who do not benefit will stop treatment and have regular followup exams.